THE DESTINY CHILD.

***Continent Eclipse if the Oceans..

...

A princess has been born.

     Unless the child is from the Empress, this is not a big news to the people both in or out of the massive walls of the Imperial Palace. The birth of another Imperial without much status will just be a passing comment in people's gists.

     A princess has been born with an innate shadow.

     This news without a shadow of doubt is enough to steer eyes and ears of curiosity as well as an equal amount of caution towards the new member of the imperial family. Being born with a shadow is a rare gift that plays a vast role in power.

     A princess has been born with an innate shadow and with the same star readings as the present Emperor!.

     Boom!.

     Like wild fire, the news of the new princess spread far and wild to all even slightly relevant to the news. The kingdom's population, the Royal consorts, the Empress herself, The seven arms of the imperial Court, The major Clans across the Continent and even to the neighbouring Continents.

     Everybody knows the story of the emperor who had those sets of star readings and so.. various theories immediately began to cook up.

Do they have themselves a possible sixth Exalted Empress that the world have not seen through the last hundred generations?.

     Is the Imperial family once again blessed with a peerless genius that would have a chance at the throne?.

Is the new born princess going to cause a power struggle through the kingdom?.

     A lot of people who would rather sit back and watch while having fun just thinking of the drama the birth of this mystery princess would bring but those who were truly concerned or could be affected by her birth were already planning on their moves.

     On that day, thousands of background research were carried out on the child's mother in order to determine the child's future strenght and weakness but they were all left with their eyebrows up in confusion at the end of their findings.

     Nothing!.

     Absolutely nothing special is associated to the Mother of this proposed genius and possible game changer.

     She is just a normal Concubine who had married the Emperor before his ascension  to the throne. She has no special affinities, no special talent, no special physique nor bloodline and her cultivation level and looks could be considered average at most while considering her age and position.

     She's so ordinary that the major powers began to think that she must have a secret or two in order to make it into the Emperor's inner circle.

     Were the rumours exaggerated?, Some people began to doubt but they all had trust in their sources that were implanted in the Imperial Palace so the thought of being supplied fabricated information is quickly out of the question. The only possible answer to this situation can only come in as one word, - Luck!.

     This Consort who seems to have crawled out of nowhere is somehow lucky enough to not only marry the Emperor but also bear a supposed 'Child of Destiny'.

      Although most cannot comprehend the absurdity of such double one-in-a-billion jackpot, this did not stop them at all as they immediately began to format plans that would tip this to their favours.

     Some would observe before taking actions..

     Some would place heavy bets on the new princess,..

     Some would consider the child an obstacle to their own goals of either becoming or making their children the next heirs,..

     Some would neither tilt to her favour nor slide against her and Some ~}

     "Can we eliminate her?.", A calm and indifferent voice dripping with majesty and femine superiority asks calmly.

~} Would want her completely erased from the picture.

     Leaning into a wide throne-like chair in a broad solicitor's room, the Empress casually pops the question to the surprise of no one present.

     The Empress indifferent golden-orange eyes has been dangerous highlighted with black make-up lines to give her gaze a deep look that hold both power and unspeakable charms. Her gaze casually strays away from the book on her table as she sets her fiery-cold gaze on the man giving her the report on the new 'Genius' princess.

     Sitted in meditative positions at a respectable distance from the Empress were six people arranged in order of 1-2-3 on three rows. The total area occupied by these row of six people is completely insignificant compared to the scale of the room. At the wide edges of the room, statue- like guards dressed in white and golden armours are seen holding their positions across each wall.

     The atmosphere in the room is calm yet oppressive as a servant by the Empress side tends for the Empress nails as quietly as possible while another brews the Empress's favours energy rich tea with feather-like tenderness.

     The news of the newborn princess has just reached the ears of the Empress's and despite her question, the Empress doesn't seem even the slightest bit impressed by the birth of this 'destiny child'.

What talent?!, What star readings?!. The True prince's and Princesses she have given life would effortlessly put whatever headstart everyone thinks the new princess has to complete shame.

     The connections she had and her sway in the supreme Court alongside the solid backing of two of the seven great arms of the Court re-assures her completely that although they may try, no-one is enough to truly be regarded as a competition to any of her children interested in being the next heir.

     With this though in mind, the Empress casually opens her mouth to gently receive a strawberry like fruit passed to her by her maid as she awaits a answer to her question.

     "Your Majesty, The Emperor has shown his favour towards this Newborn child. Although he have done this in a subtle manner, the message is clear enough.. 'She is one of mine.'".

     A man on the second row says calmly as he slightly tips his head downward as he speaks to show his respect and submission.

     Hearing words about the Emperor's support to the newborn princess, the Empress still shows no reaction. It is almost the norm for the Emperor to perform such a gesture towards any child he deems to be truly worthy of his name.

     "Killing the girl while she's under the Emperor's wing would lead to unpredictable consequences as the Emperor is not known for his stability when his authority is tested.", The man sitting alone at the front row advises to the Empress without tipping his head, obviously his position in the room holds quite the weight.

     "In that case, let her grow but not too big. Block off any chance she gets to major power and cut their outstretched hands off if they seem resistant. Let her be a flower for a while but then let her find out for herself why flowers wither without appropriate sunlight. We would look like we are scared of a nobody if we cross too much lines to hinder her so let's make the process as passive as possible..

     "..She would have to be atleast eighteen to become any form of threat so we have eighteen years to passively, slowly and surgically cut off any helping hand that comes by and so,.. for now - let's downplay her already insignificant existence. You said she has a innate shadow right?. Be sure to find this shadow by whatever means and be sure to make her a failure that gets rejected by her own shadow.

     "If you can't get her rejected by her shadow then kill the shadow. Make it seem like fate itself does not want her at the top.". The Empress gives her orders to her personal and political subjects who immediately lowers their heads into a bow as they receive their orders.

     "Yes, your Majesty!.", They echo in calm harmony while retaining their bowed position for a while before straightening their spines once more.

     "You may leave..", The Empress coldly says before calmly receiving another small fruit into her mouth.

(MUST READ)-AUTHORS NOTE:- THE BASIC POWER SYSTEM IN THIS FANTASY WORLD IS SPLIT INTO TEN RANKS FOR EACH PATHWAYS. RANK ONE IS THE LOWEST RANK AND RANK TEN IS THE HIGHEST RANK FOR EACH PATHWAYS.

THE MOST COMMON PATHWAYS ARE THE SWORD'S PATHWAYS, MAGE PATHWAYS, WICTH/WITCHCRAFT PATHWAYS, WARRIOR PATHWAYS, ARRAY-MASTER PATHWAYS, THE SHEPERD PATHWAYS AND THE ORACLE PATHWAYS.

A MAGE OF THE RANK ONE PATHWAYS MAY BE STRONGER THAN ANOTHER MAGE OF RANK TWO. CULTIVATOR'S BATTLE MIGHTS ARE SOMETIMES INDEPENDENT OF THEIR PATHWAYS AND THEIR TRUE BATTLE STRENGHTS ARE DETERMINED BY OTHER COMPLEX VARIABLES SUCH AS THE STRENGHT AND CONCERNTRATION OF THEIR BLOODLINES, AFFINITIES AND MASTERY OF SPIRITUAL AND MARTIAL ARTS.

IT IS POSSOBLE FOR A VERY TALENTED PERSON TO HAVE DUAL OF EVEN TRI CULTIVATION PATHWAYS AS LONG AS THERE ISN'T FRICTION BETWEEN THESE PATHWAYS.

*DEAR READERS, I KNOW THAT RIGHT NOW, FOLLOWING THROUGH WITH THIS SETUP WILL GIVE A SLIGHTLY CONFUSING VIEW ON THE WORLD POWERS SYSTEM BUT I WILL MAKE SURE THAT BEFORE THE HUNDREDTH CHAPTER, EVERY READER CAN EFFORTLESSLY PICTURE BOTH THE WORLD SETTING AND ITS POWER SYSTEM.

THANK YOU.